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Sexual Harassment Bill Forthcoming

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Sexual Harassment Bill Forthcoming

Minister of Education and Culture Lilja Alfreðsdóttir plans to introduce a bill on measures against sexual harassment in sports and youth groups this autumn, RÚV reports. A task force appointed by the Minister in response to the #metoo declaration of Icelandic women in sports presented their suggestions regarding the matter yesterday.

Last winter, many stories of sexual harassment and violence in sports and youth organisations came to light. “It happens to me when I am 16 years old that I’m raped by a handball player on the men’s national team at the time,” Hafdís Inga Hinriksdóttir recounted in a television interview in January.

The task force recommendations include banning the hiring of those with previous convictions for sexual assault, as well as ensuring all staff in sports and youth clubs have a basic knowledge of how to respond when sexual assault cases arise. The recommendations also suggest providing state and municipal funding to support gender equality issues in youth organisations and sports clubs.

“Some of these suggestions have already been implemented in collaboration with UMFÍ (The Youth Group Association of Iceland) and ÍSÍ (The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland),” the Minister stated.

“This of course just raises awareness. It means that it’s possible to deal with such matters in a professional and organized manner. And though this is often very difficult and sensitive, it’s possible to deal with, and these suggestions really do,” Lilja stated.